System and Method for Ensuring the Availability of a Storage System

1. A storage system, comprising: a first iSCSI controller operable to receive a SCSI I/O request over a TCP/IP network; and a second iSCSI controller coupled to the first iSCSI controller, wherein the first iSCSI controller is configured to copy the SCSI I/O request to memory associated with the second iSCSI controller and acknowledge to a host that the SCSI I/O request has been committed, and wherein responsive to detecting a failure of the first iSCSI controller, if the second iSCSI controller determines that the SCSI I/O request has been committed but not completed, the second iSCSI controller assumes the network address of the first iSCSI controller, retrieves the copy of the SCSI I/O request from the memory, and completes the SCSI I/O request.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second iSCSI controller includes a first network address and a second network address, the first network address corresponding to a network address of the second iSCSI controller and the second network address corresponding to the network address of the first iSCSI controller.

3. The system of claim 1 , further including a first iSCSI TCP/IP protocol stack coupled between the first iSCSI controller and the network, and a second iSCSI TCP/IP protocol stack coupled between the second iSCSI controller and the network.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first iSCSI controller and the second iSCSI controller are each configured to communicate with a remotely located host server over the network.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein SCSI I/O request is removed from the second iSCSI controller at a time corresponding to the completion of the SCSI I/O request.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the storage system includes a fiber channel storage unit.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second iSCSI controller assuming the network address of the first iSCSI controller further comprises retrieving the network address of the first iSCSI controller from the memory.